


It's a star, not a pentagram!

by chosuiri



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn, University AU, based off when someone got satanic lattes from starbucks, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-11-16 18:26:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11258448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chosuiri/pseuds/chosuiri
Summary: Subaru ends up becoming yet another victim to the allure of coffee. Somehow, getting satanic lattes every morning hasn't stopped him. Especially because the barista is interesting.





	1. meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm here with my 50 natsume ships? but subanatsu is a big fav i'm surprised i didn't write anything for them until now. anyways this is based off this lovely headline. https://twitter.com/mizzyri/status/876916495850385409  
> this will be mostly subanatsu but there will be Warm trickstar moments bc yo! my boys!

“Can I get your NAME?” The barista questions, as he taps away at the cash register. He swipes the gift card and hands it back to him. “There's plenty of money LEFT.” Subaru raises an eyebrow, it being his first time at a coffee shop-- usually his friends would be the ones to go on their own, since he doesn't exactly consider himself a coffee drinker. But after his friends oh-so graciously gave him the gift card to this place (probably for its shine), his roommate urged him to use it instead of staring at it occasionally.

“Subaru Akehoshi! Akehoshi is written with the characters for ‘morning star' and Subaru is written in katakana! Easy to remember, right?” He answers with his usual introduction, but the barista only snorts at him in response. “Let's get along--”

“I'm just a baRISTA, it's not like we need to be FRIENDS. I don't really need to know how to write your NAME. But thank YOU.~ Your order will be ready SHORTLY, so next in line PLEASE.” He laughs, as he moves to get the drink ready for Subaru.

“Eh? I'm the only one in line~☆”

His tongue clicks audibly, as he leans against the counter to confirm that Subaru is telling the truth. Of course he comes in while it’s _not_ busy. “Do whatever you WANT.”

Subaru, intrigued by the process, peers over the counter to watch the employee work.

“What are you looking AT?”

“I wanted to see-- you said I can do whatever, right~?” Subaru pauses to check the other boy’s name tag. “Natsume, huh? You seem pretty familiar, don't you go to my university?” When he looks closely, he notices the piercings on his ears--and his distinct hair does remind him of the one who hangs around the science lab a lot. And if he recalls correctly, he's his roommate's lab partner. “Oh, do you know Hokke?”

“Why do you insist on talking to ME?” Natsume sighs in response, not bothering to spare a glance at the other. “But I do know this Hokkee… fufu, you must be the one who created that NICKNAME.”

“Well~ Hokke is Hokke!” Subaru exclaims in response with dumb smile on his face. Looking at Natsume’s face, he spots him desperately trying to hide his smile by scrunching his face instead. It makes Subaru chuckle. “Natsume, why don't you smile?  You're smiling, but…”

“It's none of your conCERN. Ah, your drink is almost COMPLETE. Ahaha ♪” Natsume announces with cheeks that are unexpectedly flush with a slight red tint. Subaru opens his mouth to talk again, but instead watches Natsume quietly as he carefully puts the lid on.

“They write the name and stuff on the cup, right? So the characters for Subaru are in katakana--”

“I am not trying to be your FRIEND, so it is unnecessary for me to know how to exactly write your NAME-- it is just as I have said beFORE. Ahaha ♪ You really don’t know how to LISTEN.” Natsume interrupts as he shoves the cup in Subaru's hands. “Baru-kun, why don't you get GOING?”

“Baru-kun? Eww, it feels gross.~” Subaru remarks with a shiver.

“Hmph, what a HYPOCRITE. You should know that it’s rude to try to close the distance with OTHERS when you dislike the act yourSELF.” He crosses his arms, making an attempt to look a bit menacing-- ultimately failing, since Subaru only smiles in response.

“I don’t know what you are trying to say~”

“Ugh, how irritatING.”

Conveniently for Natsume, another customer comes inside the store. “It was nice meeting YOU, I guess. Goodnight~ for now.” He manages to say before attending to the next customer with the greeting of “Goodnight.”

Subaru, dumbfounded by how quickly his new friend left, walks over to the stand with all the creamer and stuff. He opens the lid of his latte to find something relatively unsettling. Is that a pentagram?

“What am I supposed to do with this~ uuu, maybe it'll go away if I pour in some creamer. Is this latte cursed? But Natsume made it…” He thinks to do it immediately, but it _would_ make for a story to tell others so he quickly snaps a picture of it with his phone. Uncertain of what to do, he grabs the creamers and a stirring straw and shoves it in his pocket. He'll worry about this later. Maybe Hokke will know what to do.

He considers asking Natsume for an expansion, but he's preoccupied with someone else so he can't really--plus, he has plans with his friends today, anyways. There's no time for him to loiter around. “Bye Natsume~! I'll see you again!” He practically yells as he leaves the store, and he only hears a grunt as acknowledgement. Amused by the barista, Subaru laughs. That's enough for him.

As he exits the coffee shop, he frowns at his cup. He has to drink it, obviously-- he didn’t spend any of his shiny money, but it still feels like a waste if he is to discard it just because it has a pentagram drawn on it. Some satanic latte art now and then won’t hurt, right?

Subaru lifts the cup to take a taste of the beverage-- his eyes widening as he revels in the taste. He didn’t think he’d like coffee this much-- of course, not enough to drink it black, but this is pretty manageable for him. Maybe it isn’t so cursed after all?

His phone buzzes to snap him out of his wishful thinking, and after reading the text he types a quick reply and starts running to the meeting spot. He doesn’t want to be late for the movie, after all.

* * *

“Akehoshi, you’re late!” His roommate snaps impatiently, hitting Subaru on the head with the tickets in his hand. His friends try to stifle their laughter, earning a glare from Hokuto again. He sighs and shakes his head, but the cup in Subaru’s grasp catches his eye. “Oh, you used the gift card? You should’ve told me you were going. Isara was just talking about how he needed some caffeine.”

Mao blinks, “You shouldn’t feel obliged to give me your drink-- it’s yours, after all.” Also, Mao is the one who gave him the card in the first place. Subaru extends his arm to offer it nonetheless, but quickly jerks it back. “Is there something wrong?”

“Uh… about that, I think this coffee is cursed! See,” Subaru whips out his phone, “Natsume like… drew this star thing on here! Isn’t this a pentagram?”

Makoto squints and looks at the picture, and Subaru ends up handing him the phone so he can take a closer look. He adjusts his glasses, and shakes his head. “That is… a star! Akehoshi-kun, this is from Starbucks, right? It must be related to that?”

“Oh! Ukki, you might be right~? Those glasses just aren’t for show!” Subaru nods eagerly, his fears of befriending a satanist has gone away.

Makoto sinks away, “Akehoshi-kun, what is that supposed to mean--”

Hokuto sighs, “that’s not it. Akehoshi, you said ‘Natsume’? You don’t mean Sakasaki?”

“Uh… I didn’t get his last name, but he knows you! He’s your lab partner, right?” Subaru looks up at his roommate hopefully, with the intentions of possibly getting his phone number so he can actually talk to him.

“Ah, so it’s him.” Hokuto scratches his head with a disgruntled expression on his face, “then it’s definitely a pentagram. Sakasaki has a penchant for the occult… he’s always wearing that necklace. Akehoshi, you should stay away from him. He’s of the shady sort.”

“Mmmm, but there’s something about him that interests me! He’s not shiny or has anything shiny, but...” Subaru begins, trying his best to organize all of his thoughts properly. “It’s like… he looks a little lonely. He’s a good guy--”

“You just met him. You can’t assume that already!” Hokuto raises his voice slightly as he scolds Subaru’s naivety, but a shake of his shoulders from Mao causes him to back off. He checks the time on his phone, and lets out a sigh. “Fine. We’ll just discuss this later… hurry up, we’re going to be late for the movie.” He turns around promptly and storms off in the direction of the movie theater. Makoto, unsure what to do about the situation, quietly follows Hokuto.

Subaru pouts and doesn’t budge from his spot. Mao takes a deep breath, and puts an arm around his shoulder. “I’ll still drink the satanic latte,” he offers. Subaru laughs at Mao’s attempt to lighten the mood.

“It still tastes good, so maybe you can have a tiiiiny sip-- only if you give me some money, please☆” Subaru wagers, and Mao groans as he gets his wallet out. He drops a 100 yen coin in Subaru’s hands, and takes the coffee cup.

Mao begins to ingest the beverage, and he doesn’t show any signs of stopping.

“Wait, that’s more than a sip!”

Mao ignores him and instead drags Subaru along to the movie theater. He tells him that he’ll pay him more money later, and Subaru feels a little more satisfied with that compromise.

“Oi! Hokuto, wait for us!” Mao shouts as he tosses the paper cup into a nearby trash can. Subaru frowns when the realization that Mao just drank the rest of his latte hit. That _is_ his money.

“Is something wrong?” Mao pauses, but snorts when he realizes the cause of Subaru’s damper mood. “Oh, sorry. I’ll pay you back. You’re probably gonna go back tomorrow, right? He works there every morning. But I don’t usually get anything fancy, so I never really seen his latte art. It’s pretty funny. Maybe he’ll put that devil’s number in next time.”

“You mean 666?” Subaru grins just thinking about Natsume giving it to him with a straight face. He is sort of an eccentric guy-- talks a lot and in a funny way, as well, but it doesn’t fall short of intriguing him.

The two of them finally catch up to Hokuto and Makoto waiting in front of the theater. He checks the time. Just a few minutes before the movie starts. “Hokke, it’s okay~ pleaseee forgive me! I’ll stay quiet! Sari gave me some money.” Subaru tries to apologize, and it somehow gets a small smile out of Hokuto.

“Forget about it. We need to hurry, the movie is going to start.” He says truthfully, and Subaru knew that they will be talking later.

“Hidaka-kun, don’t rush us-- they show a bunch of ads first, you know.” Makoto protests, already making his way inside the theater to dart inside to wait in the line for concessions.

Hokuto rolls his eyes, deeming it a waste of time if he tries to catch up to Makoto. “Let’s just get going. I’ll stop by and give Yuuki the ticket, so you two can go ahead.” He confirms as he hands a ticket to both of them.

* * *

“That movie was really boring,” Subaru drawls as the four of them exit the theater.

“I thought it was nice,” Makoto supplies meekly. Mao snorts as he pats Makoto on the back.

“Dude, you fell asleep.” Mao shakes his head, and then turns to face Hokuto, who looks deep in thought. “How did you feel about the movie?”

“The acting was splendid, but the plot was lackluster.” He replies promptly as he strokes his chin. “It’s a shame, since my grandma was looking forward to this movie to the point she went to excitedly buy tickets for all of us.”

“Oh, but maybe she’ll enjoy it anyways?” Mao throws out with a shrug. “It was kind of her to get us tickets.”

“She said it’s for Akehoshi’s birthday. She always says that it’s best to treasure your friends and spoil them while you can.” Hokuto’s voice is filled with warmth and utter reverence for his grandma. Subaru’s expression softens, and he tries to flash a smile at Hokuto, but he quickly receives a scowl in response.

“Idiot, don’t do that. We should get going. Or do you guys want to eat dinner before we head home?” Hokuto announces, cutting the conversation short entirely-- presumably out of embarrassment.

“We should get crepes~♪” Makoto suggests excitedly, “I’m not really that hungry.”

“Ukki, it’s because you hogged all the popcorn!” Subaru whines, “now I’m starving because of you. Sari also drank the rest of my latte earlier!”

“Isara-kun actually drank the satanic latte?” Makoto blinks, “but isn’t that dangerous? You can’t die!”

Mao sighs, and rubs his temples. “Don’t be ridiculous, Makoto. That Sakasaki guy isn’t that bad of a guy. I have his coffee all the time. Plus, I’m here for a good time, not a long time.”

All of them burst into a fit of laughter at that, and then the four of them chat more as they went to locate a crepe stand. Makoto offers to pay for all of their crepes, but Hokuto insists on paying for it instead. Ultimately, they let Makoto pay-- but Subaru notices Mao and Hokuto trying to sneak money back into Makoto’s wallet.

* * *

The two of them finally arrive back in their apartment, and Subaru crashes into the couch with a large yawn. Making himself comfortable on there, he turns on the TV to see what kind of shows are on. Hokuto shakes his head at Subaru’s display, but quietly puts away the keys in its proper compartment. Them being out for a majority of the day meant that there aren’t any dishes from lunch, but it still means they have to eat.

“Akehoshi. What do you want to eat?”

“Mmmm… I dunno!” Subaru hollers back, deciding to be useless. “Maybe we’ll just go out later.”

Hokuto opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off by his phone buzzing. Subaru perks up and sits up straight to observe Hokuto’s reaction.

A flash of exasperation makes its way onto Hokuto’s face, and he tiredly gets his keys back out. “Akehoshi, we’re eating out with Sakasaki.”

“What? Seriously?” Subaru stands up from the couch immediately and he straightens his clothes. “Hokke, Hokke, give me his number~♪”

“Ask him yourself,” Hokuto scowls as he takes the time to tidy up their kitchen. Subaru assumes that means they still had some free time left, so maybe he’ll make himself look more shiny.

* * *

“What did you want? It’s rare for you to eat with me. Last time you just stole half of my lunch.” Hokuto deadpans as soon as he and Subaru approach the table that Natsume is pleasantly sitting at. He and Subaru slide easily into the booth, and both of them are facing Natsume.

“Fufu… I thought it would be interesTING since I met your roomMATE, Hokkee~” Natsume smiles simply, and Hokuto prods him further for a true reason. “You’re no FUN. The real reason is that my prior plans for dinner were CANCELLED, so I had to settle for some sort of COMPANY. It’s rude of me to leave after being seated for so LONG.” He confesses, eyes filled with annoyance as he refers to the other plans he had beforehand.

Subaru gulps, a bit nervous about how tense Natsume’s relationship with Hokuto is. If they manage to work together in their science class, it shouldn’t be _too_ bad.

“Ahaha ♪ Baru-kun, are you a little conFUSED?” Natsume teases him almost immediately, and Subaru only stares at him blankly. “You’re more FUN. But let’s have an excellent DINNER.”

How did he go from getting coffee from a barista to having dinner with him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is gonna be a full blown university au! whoo! basically subahokke are roommates and maomako are roommates. now who cancelled on natsume? find out next time on it's a star, not a pentagram.
> 
> follow me on @sweetie_wink for sobbing and maybe some subanatsu crytyping


	2. formality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh i didn't expect this to get so much attention so i , didn't update it until now (actually i was being lazy pbthhh) but i'm back in black
> 
> this is in natsume's point of view kinda of course i didn't do first person since yeah. but it switches to subaru near the end!

How bothersome. That senior of his forgot completely about their plans for dinner, and instead went out to eat with another friend of his. “How despiCABLE. I should’ve invited Sora inSTEAD.” Natsume hisses as he closes out of his text conversation with the contact dubbed “That Loser” with a bread and glasses emoji and instead opens a conversation with the contact entitled with a gem emoji. He asks for if Sora wants to eat dinner with him, and gets an immediate response.

His eyes widen with a flicker of excitement, but his shoulders droop when he reads the text.

**[ Sora is busy tonight! Maybe next time, master~? Hoho  ♪ ]**

“I am left with no CHOICE.” Natsume sighs, as he sends another message to reassure Sora, and then scrolls through his contacts to see a familiar name. He hasn’t ever really hung out with Hokuto outside of the lab, but it could be potentially interesting. Plus, what if he brings his roommate? Chuckling to himself, he sends out the text and is left with thinking about his backup plans. If possible, he can always ask his other seniors (the cool ones)-- but Natsume didn’t really want to bother them. Either way, he is forcing someone to eat with him. He just feels like a loser sitting here on his lonesome. 

A waitress approaches his table with a hopeful smile on her face, but her eyes widen in recognition. “Oh, Natsume-kun?”

“Fufu, little kitten, you’re truly a workaHOLIC, aren’t YOU? How admirABLE..♪” He greets with a matching grin. He hasn’t exactly seen Anzu in a while, especially considering that he fails to attend any of his classes except for chemistry-- since that is within his interests, and the professor is somewhat acceptable in Natsume’s eyes. He gauges on whether to attend school or not based on what the instructor has to teach him. As a result, he’s skipped plenty of school in his high school years-- however, his peers forced him to attend the bare minimum for the sake of his graduation. But in university, he’s had much more freedom.

It suits him.

However, the fact that he has to work as a barista to support his well-being is less than desirable. That annoying Tsumugi Aoba has graciously landed him the job (“You’d be an amazing barista, Natsume-kun!”), but it’s brought him more annoyance in his life than anything. The only reason he hasn’t quit is because he finds the customers’ reaction to his latte art extremely amusing. Otherwise, every other aspect of his job is a pain. And he doesn't even consider himself a coffee enthusiast, preferring to function without the aid of caffeine--like it or not, he is an expert at brewing such beverages.

Anzu, though, has been one of his classmates in his freshman year of university-- and she’s the reason he’s found interest in attending some of his classes. He likes cats-- even has two living with him in his apartment. She acts like one, so naturally he is prone to pestering her. It’s just rare for him to meet others outside of the lecture rooms-- more common than it would be in say, high school, but their circles do not commonly overlap. Although, it’s not surprising to see that she is working as a waitress.

“Natsume-kun, are you waiting for someone?” She blinks, and tilts her head to the side. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“Some water will be FINE.” He answers quickly, “and you may see some familiar faces SOON.”

She stays silent at his cryptic words, but writes down his order. “I’ll be back when the others arrive, then.” Anzu shoots him an uncertain smile and then carries on.

* * *

Subaru's fidgeting while they wait for Anzu to come around again to take their order entertains Natsume. He carries a conversation with them, but Subaru seems oddly startled for some reason.

Interrupting the intensity of Natsume’s attempt at making small talk with Hokuto, Subaru opens his mouth to speak. “Natsume, right? Uhh… why did you put a pentagram in my latte this morning?”

“It's SIMPLE.” Natsume sighs, “those are simply my prefeRENCE. It’s quite fun to keep my customers on their TOES.”

Hokuto rolls his eyes, “I'm surprised you haven't been fired for that.”

“I've received COMPLAINTS, but others find it compelLING--it's become a secret selling POINT.” Natsume explains proudly, “My manager intends on especially using IT during Halloween.”

“Isara seems to have no qualms about it... So those starved for coffee would not dare to discriminate..?” His lab partner rubs his temples as he dares to comprehend Natsume’s relatively unhelpful explanation. “That is weird, for a lack of a better word.”

“Why don't you guys advertise it? It's kinda…” Subaru suggests, his skin slowly turning pale as he recalls the experience, “yeah. I mean, the coffee is good, sooo… we'll be seeing each other a lot more, Natsume!”

“Excellent.” Natsume chuckles, and leans in a bit closer to examine the two sitting in front of him. Somehow he's unintentionally expanded his circle of companions--well, he doesn't consider them his allies or anything. Just those willing to entertain him when he's bored.

“Ah, the little kitten is BACK. Ready your ORDERS, and be mindful to not make her WAIT.” Natsume states, and he pretends not to notice an underhand dealing between Subaru and Hokuto beneath the table.

They tell her their orders somewhat quickly, and she jots them down just as fast with a smile. She acknowledges Hokuto and Subaru as fellow students and they exchange mere small talk for a moment before she leaves to put in their order. 

Left alone once again, Natsume merely takes a sip out of his glass of water and stares at his companions awkwardly. A silence settles over them, and he spots Hokuto reaching for his phone. It seems a little unusual, since Subaru seems to be the annoying type who goes on forever.

“Baru-kun, aren't you the kind of person who would blab forEVER?”

“Hokke is horribly bad, you see! He resorts to bribing me with shiny stuff… so I keep quiet about his crimes.” He answers in full jest, at which Natsume snorts at.

“There's no such thing!” Hokuto interrupts with an exhausted look on his face, but seemingly used to the orange haired boy’s antics, he shakes his head and tries to drop it. “Don't mind him, Sakasaki. He was being annoying so I used a 100 yen coin to keep him quiet. It seems like not even that worked, though…”

“Baru-kun, are you completely sullied with AVARICE?”

“Nah, I just really like sparkly things! They shine so brightly, it's impossible to not be attracted to it!” Subaru states happily, “didn't you know this already?”

“Sakasaki probably repressed the memory. I wouldn't blame him.” Hokuto shrugs, and sighs as he takes out his phone to check it. He squints as he inspects his phone, and Subaru assumes that Hokuto got a text of sorts. 

“My, is there something WRONG?” Natsume asks, deciding to be a little nosy. 

Hokuto shakes his head in response, and glares at Subaru. “It's Yuuki. He says that Isara seems to be possessed.”

“Isn't that just him not sleeping for a few days?” Subaru groans in response, “tell Ukki that's it's Hokke OK!”

“Ugh, no.”

Natsume snorts at the exchange, and begins to giggle to himself.

Subaru’s eyes widen, and he shoots a smile at his friend, “Wow, Natsume! Your laugh is really cute!”

“I think it's more creepy,” Hokuto mutters, but stares at Natsume to see what sort of reaction Subaru gets out of him. 

Natsume immediately goes silent in response, but he begins to cover his face as he tries to avert his gaze from the both of them. He coughs, and he begins to talk unusually (well, normally for everyone else), “shut up, Baru-kun…”

“Ahaha, he got embarrassed. Hokke, you didn't tell me he's this cute!” Subaru laughs, and Hokuto rolls his eyes. 

“He never acts this cute with me.” Hokuto remarks, sounding almost disappointed. 

“I am  _ not  _ CUTE.” Natsume affirms harshly. He crosses his arms, and tries to revert to his more calm demeanor. “So, this ‘Isara’ has been poSSESSED? Fufu, how interestING.”

“Sari’s probably fine,” Subaru states with utter confidence. 

“Yuuki must be freaking out for no reason,” Hokuto groans, and this sparks an idea in Natsume.

He extends his hand out, and glances at Hokuto. “G̞̰iv̝̻͈̭̳̞͘e͍̼̣̟̟͚̩ ̲m̜̣̣̪̘e ̦͓͔̭̥y̮͙̠̣͓͕̺͢o̷u̢̜̙̤͉̠̬r͈ ̖P͘H̳͍͙O̵̹̜̼̯ͅN̨̼̱E̸̗̮̤.̷̖̠̪.”

“No.”

Natsume takes off his necklace and starts to swing it in front of Hokuto’s face. “You are getting very SLEEPY. Yes…”

Hokuto unconsciously begins to fixate his gaze on the swinging necklace, and starts to fall into a trance of sort. 

“Hokke?!” Subaru shouts, but Natsume fires a glare at him before he can help his roommate. 

As soon as Natsume is about to succeed in his hypnosis, their order has arrived. Anzu slides the plates on their table, and she raises an eyebrow at Natsume’s antics. 

“No hypnosis in this establishment.” She states plainly, narrowing her eyes and leaning in front of Natsume’s face with hands on her hips. 

“It's for an important CAUSE, little kitten.” Natsume insists, and ignores her. Meanwhile, Subaru just starts to dig into his dinner-- completely ignoring their conversation. Good. 

Anzu sighs and leaves them alone because she has other customers to attend to.

Natsume smirks. Nice. “Hokkee, why don't you give me your PHONE.”

Hokuto miraculously listens to the request, and hands Natsume his phone. 

Satisfied with the results, Natsume puts his necklace back on his neck. “I don't remember how to undo the HYPNOSIS…”

“OH! Make him do something funny!” Subaru chimes in, mouth filled with food. 

“Hmm, if that's your WISH. Hokkee, act like a CAT.”

“Is he going to meow? You're awesome at this, Natsume! You gotta teach me this stuff!” Subaru’s eyes sparkle in fascination, and he begins to giggle when Hokuto begins to imitate a cat. 

“Fufu, a magician must not reveal his SECRETS.” Natsume wiggles a finger in the air, subsequently taunting Subaru in the process. “Hypnosis is an art that’s difficult to MASTER. An amateur like you is not ready for such sophisticATION.”

Subaru frowns, and scratches the back of his neck as he looks over to Natsume. A look of excitement is apparent on the other’s face, and Subaru finds himself smiling as well. “Natsume, you must really like this kind of stuff!”

“That’s a GIVEN. Using knowledge of the human PSYCHE to trick them is quite entertainING.” He chuckles to himself, and trails off into silence.

Upon remembering his plan, he opens Hokuto’s phone and scrolls through his contacts-- making a mental note of Subaru’s phone number-- then pulls up Hokuto’s text conversation with Makoto. And true to what the other has said, the other boy seemed to be troubled by Natsume’s customization of Subaru’s morning drink. He vaguely remembers this Makoto kid, long ago talking to him in their freshmen year of college-- he sought to take over the game research club, and eventually he did just that. Now he resides as its leader with some members. Sora, a freshmen, being his favorite. It’s a little awkward for him to be talking to him, especially since he opted to join the Tennis Team for some unknown reason instead.

**[Yuuki, Isara is actually cursed now. There doesn’t seem to be anything we can do… he’s been marked as a sacrifice for Satan.]**

Natsume snickers to himself as he sends the text to Makoto. Hopefully he’s properly captured Hokuto’s manner of texting, so he could fool Makoto this once. Since he doesn’t get an immediate response, he locks Hokuto’s phone and slides it back to him.

“Natsume..?”

“Don’t worry about IT.” He takes a few bite of his meal, and then seems to have insight. He knows what to do now-- probably.

“You will snap out of it upon me snapping my finGERS.” Natsume directs his words at Hokuto, and then proceeds to snap his fingers. It’s one of his coveted special talents, although some don’t even consider it a special skill. Some people can’t even snap, so he has decided to take pride in it.

Hokuto blinks back into consciousness, eyeing Natsume suspiciously as he observes his surroundings. He attends to his own meal, muttering a quick “thank you for the food” as he proceeds to eat his dinner. “Sakasaki, what did you do?”

“Nothing~” Natsume sings, in a manner so irritating it causes Hokuto to drop the subject immediately. Subaru is about to say something, but Natsume springs up from his seat to cover his mouth.

Hokuto only squints harder.

His phone goes off at that moment, and Hokuto excuses himself to take the call. Natsume only chuckles to himself in response, earning a curious look from Subaru.

“Natsume, don’t tell me you told Ukki something weird!” Subaru gasps, but then he bursts out into laughter, presumably from imagining something. “We’re the so-called Idiot Duo, so I think Makoto is just really gullible… I hope you didn’t scare him too badly.”

Natsume stays silent, and shrugs in response. It’d be even funnier if Subaru isn’t aware of what is transpiring, so he sticks to not giving him any hints.

The two of them launch into innocent small talk, but it’s mostly Subaru enthusing about silly things while Natsume nods along. However, he isn’t short of bombarding Subaru with innocent teasing.

“Hey, Akehoshi. Let’s get going.” Hokuto finally returns from his long phone call, and he takes a few bills out of his wallet and places it on the table. He shoots a menacing glare at Natsume, and grabs Subaru by the arm. “Sakasaki, give me back the change in class.”

“As you WISH.” Natsume answers, leaning back slightly in his chair with a wave of his hand. He begins to gather his belongings as well, and presses a button for Anzu’s attention.

* * *

“Hokke, where are we going?” Subaru whines, managing to shake off Hokuto’s iron grip on his arm. Hokuto doesn’t respond, instead muttering profanities about Natsume for whatever reason. Did he do something wrong?

“Yuuki and Isara’s place…” Hokuto finally answers with a single roll of his eyes, and Subaru only grows more confused.

“Huh? Do we need something?”

Hokuto stops straight in the middle of his fast-paced walking, causing Subaru to stumble to a stop. “I think we may need some purifying salt.”

“Regular salt has to work, right?” Subaru suggests, realizing that it must be concerning Mao’s drinking of the satanic coffee. Subaru seems to not be affected. Interesting.

“Maybe. We don’t have the time to get some actual purifying salt. Would beans work, too? It’s long past Setsubun, though.” Hokuto nods, and the two of them seek out a store to stop by and grab some-- or what closely fits the description of it. Subaru also opts to get some red beans. Even though it’s nowhere near the holiday, he figures it may help to perform that tradition anyways.

Well, he actually just doesn’t mind throwing beans at Mao.

The two of them, with grocery bags in tow, finally arrive at Makoto and Mao’s shared apartment. Hokuto knocks loudly on the door, and a distressed Makoto opens it. “G-Guys! Quickly, Isara-kun won’t come out of his room!”

“He might just be asleep,” Hokuto groans, but he takes out the salt and red beans from the bags nonetheless. He hands Subaru the bag of red beans. “I’ll handle the salt. You can use the beans.”

“YES!” Subaru cheers, greedily snatching them from Hokuto with a gleeful smile.

With an audible gulp, Makoto picks the lock of Mao’s room and bursts inside to reveal a Mao silently sitting at his desk. “Isara-kun! We’re here to save you!”

“You’re wh--” Mao is quickly cut off by Hokuto and Subaru teaming up to throw things at him. They work in tandem-- Hokuto sprinkles handfuls of salt onto Mao’s head, while Subaru mercilessly pelts him with the uncooked beans.

“Hey, stop it! That hurts, Subaru! Hokuto, you’re gonna make a mess!” Mao protests, but the two of them don’t listen to his pleas to ceasefire.

Annoyed by the two, Mao stands straight up from his seat, and forcibly grabs the salt from Hokuto’s hands, He reaches out for Subaru, who’s attacking a few feet away, and only grasps plain air. 

Subaru counterattacks by increasing the speed of his bean throwing, and hits Mao hard enough so he falls to the ground. The salt container drops along with him, and Subaru decides it’s finally safe for him to approach Mao carefully.

“Guys, what’s this about?” Mao questions, gritting his teeth as he turns his head up to face Subaru directly. To be honest, he’s in a huge amount of pain right now, but he figures none of his friends care at this rate.

“Hidaka-kun said that Sakasaki-kun said that it’s too late for you, but we couldn’t just stand by as you’re sacrificed to Satan!” Makoto cries, as he rushes over from the door. “I-It’s for your own good!”

“Did I?” Hokuto’s eyes widen out of surprise, and he quickly takes out his phone to look at their text conversation. He sighs, realizing what Natsume must’ve did. “I see, so that’s why you had us get salt for some reason… That Sakasaki…”

Mao groans, “Makoto… I’m perfectly okay. Well, I’m actually in a little pain now, though...”

Makoto laughs nervously, and sheepishly scratches his head.

Subaru takes the opportunity to throw more beans at his friends.

“AKEHOSHI!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know anything about hypnosis so feel free to correct me.  
> also, thank u for the support! u can always follow me on twitter @sweetie_wink!


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